Fatimas' dinner DELIGHTS

Now you can whip up the popular Auckland eatery's Middle Eastern flavours at home

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Spiced pork belly

SERVES 8 PREP TIME 15 MINUTES (+ MARINATING) COOK TIME 2½ HOURS

1.5kg pork belly, skin on, boneless, in one piece 1 heaped tsp flaky sea salt 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp fennel seeds 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground sweet paprika 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp turmeric 5 green cardamom pods, cracked 1 cinnamon stick

175ml (¾ cup) water 175ml apple juice Juice of 1 orange

1 Score the fat on the top of the pork belly in straight lines about 1cm apart. Rub pork all over with flaky sea salt. Place in a roasting dish lined with baking paper.

2 Grind coriander seeds, fennel seeds, ginger, paprika, cumin seeds and turmeric in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Rub spice mix all over the meat and between the scored lines.

3 If time allows, leave pork belly uncovered overnight (or as long as you can) in the refrigerator to dry. The next day, take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking. Preheat oven to 240°C.

4 Put green cardamom pods and cinnamon stick under the pork. Pour in water, plus apple and orange juices up to where the fat begins so all the meat is submerged in liquid. Some pork bellies are fatter than others, so you may not need all the liquid. Roast for 30 minutes. Decrease oven to 170°C and roast for a further 2 hours or until the pork is soft and the skin is crispy. Top up with a little more water if the roasting dish goes dry.

5 Remove from oven, cover loosely with tinfoil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Courgette, corn, coriander & avocado

SERVES 6 PREP TIME 25 MINUTES

½ small red onion, peeled, sliced

½ lemon, juiced

½ tsp sumac

1 tbsp olive oil